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Extraction of Nuclear and Non-ferrous Metals

Authors: Prof. Dr. Sujay Kumar Dutta, Prof. Dr. Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Publisher: Springer Singapore

Book Series : Topics in Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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About this book

This book presents a comprehensive overview of non-ferrous metallurgy, especially its core principles and fundamental aspects, in a concise form. The book covers all basic concepts and definitions related to metal extraction, and provide succinct summaries of relevant metallurgical processes. It also covers the scientific and engineering aspects of nuclear processes and features special chapter on ultra-high-purity metals. The book employs a step-by-step approach, is written in an easy-to-understand style, and discusses significance of core concepts. As such, it not only offers a valuable guide for professionals and researchers working in the areas of metallurgy, mining, and chemical engineering, but can also be used as a core text in both graduate and professional coursework.

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Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Extractive Metallurgy of Nuclear Metals

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Fundamentals of Nuclear Metallurgy

Abstract

The operation of a nuclear reactor depends upon various interactions of neutrons with atomic nuclei. In order to understand the nature and characteristics of these reactions.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 2. Uranium

Abstract

The element uranium (U) was discovered by a German chemist Klaproth in 1789. Metallic uranium was first prepared by Peligot, who showed that the substance discovered by Klaproth was the oxide of uranium. Uranium is the basic (primary) nuclear fuel, since it contains the only naturally occurring fissionable material.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 3. Plutonium

Abstract

Plutonium (Pu) is the first synthetically produced element. Metallurgy of plutonium differs from that of other elements. Plutonium is unique amongst metals both in its origin and behaviour. It is a synthetic material in the sense that it does not occur naturally as such but is artificially produced in nuclear reactors from uranium-238 by neutron absorption.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 4. Zirconium

Abstract

Owing to zirconium’s affinity for oxygen and nitrogen, which cause embrittlement, the isolation of the pure metal long eluded a satisfactory conclusion.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 5. Hafnium

Abstract

Hafnium (Hf) occurs in nature in small amounts associated with zirconium in all the zirconium minerals.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 6. Thorium

Abstract

The discovery of thorium (Th) is attributed to Berzelius in 1828. The name thorium was derived from Thor, Scandinavian god of war. Interest in the metal and its oxide lagged until about 1884.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Extractive Metallurgy of Common Metals

Frontmatter

Chapter 7. Copper

Abstract

The end of the eighteenth century saw Swansea as the largest copper (Cu) producer in the world.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 8. Aluminium

Abstract

Aluminium (Al) is a lighter metal than copper, zinc and lead. It was discovered by Davy in 1805. Wohler isolated the metal by the reduction of aluminium chloride with potassium 22 years later.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 9. Zinc

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) has been known from ancient times as an alloy with copper. It was used in India and China in the 5th century. The first real knowledge of smelting comes from India and China, the latter producing zinc on a moderate scale in the early 1700s, a sample of Chinese zinc dated 1745 having been found to contain 98.9% zinc. Production of zinc started in Great Britain in 1740 by the process of distillation.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 10. Lead

Abstract

Lead (Pb) has been known since ancient times, as its use from the 7th to the 5th millennia B.C. is now a well established fact. Since the dawn of civilization, lead has served for the conveyance of water. The bath erected by the Romans in the city of Bath was lined with sheet lead and it is claimed that it is still supplied with water through the original lead pipes which were installed nearly 2000 years ago.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 11. Tin

Abstract

The middle of the nineteenth century saw Cornwall in England as the centre of the world’s tin industry.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 12. Magnesium

Abstract

Magnesium (Mg), the lightest metal, was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 13. Nickel

Abstract

Nickel (Ni) was obtained for the first time by the Swedish chemist A.F. Cronstedt, in 1751, who suggested the name for the element. Although nickel (Ni) is a common constituent of the Earth’s crust being more widely distributed than copper, lead and zinc. Nickel has been found in economic quantities only in Canada, New Caledonia, Finland, Russia, Cuba, Griqualand, although other deposits are known. By far the most important of these areas is the Sudbury region of Ontario, Canada. The presence of nickel (and copper) in this region was known as early as 1856. In 1889, the Oxford Copper Co found a separation method for nickel and copper sulphides by taking advantage of their differing solubilities in sodium sulphide. The copper sulphide is readily soluble and nickel sulphide is practically insoluble.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Extractive Metallurgy of Less Common Metals and Ferro-Alloying Metals

Frontmatter

Chapter 14. Silicon

Abstract

The history of silicon (Si) began shortly after 1800 when Davy concluded that silica was a compound, not an element. Silicon is second only to oxygen in occurrence in nature. It constitutes 27.6% of the Earth’s crust. Man knows more than 200 different varieties of silicon: quartz, quartzite, chalcedony, rock crystal, opal, sand and many others. Silicon is a strong deoxidizer; this property determines basically its use in metallurgy. Commercially, pure silicon is used for the production of semiconductor, silicon bronzes, etc. It is used as a deoxidizer, in the forms of ferroalloy, in the production of all kind of steels. High amounts of ferrosilicon in the form of powder are used as a slag deoxidizer; it is also used for the reduction of various oxides in ferroalloy production.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 15. Manganese

Abstract

Manganese (Mn) is an element of the 7th Group of the Periodic Table (Fig. 1.1). The earth’s crust contains 0.09% Mn which is 12th in occurrence among the elements. Manganese is not found in elementary state in nature and occurs only in the form of compounds with other elements; these are mainly oxides, carbonates and silicates.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 16. Chromium

Abstract

Chromium (Cr) is an element of the 6th Group of the Periodic Table (Fig. 1.1).

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 17. Tungsten

Abstract

Tungsten (W), also known by its European name wolfram, is a metal with unique properties that lead to its use in cutting and forming other metals and in important high temperature applications.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 18. Molybdenum

Abstract

Molybdenum (Mo) is in Group VIB of the Periodic Table (Fig. 1.1) and therefore related to chromium and tungsten.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 19. Vanadium

Abstract

Vanadium (V) was discovered in the year 1801 by Manuel del Rio, Mexico City, in lead ore, and was named erythronium by him. In 1805 a French chemist, Collet-Descostils, declared that erythronium was nothing but impure chromium. In 1830, Sefstrom found what he thought was an unrecognized metal in the iron ores of Taberg, Sweden, and named it vanadium, in honour of the Scandinavian goddess Vanadis, because of its beautiful multicoloured compounds. Roscoe’s silver-white powder was first produced in 1967 by hydrogen reduction of vanadium chloride (VCl₂). This was probably the first nearly pure vanadium metal.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Chapter 20. Niobium and Tantalum

Abstract

Niobium (Nb) belongs to Group V of the Periodic Table (Fig. 1.1). Niobium is a comparatively rare element, its content in the Earth’s crust averaging 0.001%. As a rule, it is accompanied by tantalum (Ta) in ores. Columbite (mineral of niobium) was named after Columbia in America, the place of origin of the mineral from which the metal was isolated in 1802. Forty years later, what was thought to be a new element was discovered and named niobium, but further research revealed that niobium and columbium were one and the same element. In Europe the element is still called niobium, whilst in America it is known as columbium.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Production of Ultra-High Purity Metals

Frontmatter

Chapter 21. Methods of Refining

Abstract

The advance of atomic energy, electronics etc. manufacture has led to a demand for metals and alloys of a very high order of purity which has necessitated the development of new operational techniques.

Sujay Kumar Dutta, Dharmesh R. Lodhari

Backmatter

Title: Extraction of Nuclear and Non-ferrous Metals
Authors: Prof. Dr. Sujay Kumar Dutta
Prof. Dr. Dharmesh R. Lodhari
Copyright Year: 2018
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Electronic ISBN: 978-981-10-5172-2
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5171-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5172-2

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